Would you miss your salesman? Part 3

Here's another question about salesmen: "Would people buy your company's product(s) in spite of their salesmen?" -Tobin Johnson

Tobin's company is going through a major purchasing process. They like company A's salesperson, but not the product. Company B is the exact opposite, they don't like the salesperson, but the product is exactly what they need. He says they might buy Company B's product, but not because of the salesperson.

YIKES!

This should be an easy decision right? Buy the product that fits best for your organization, not a hard decision? WRONG! In one of my previous posts, Sales and Service, I explain why. "How you sell me is indicative of how you will service me." For Tobin's company those alarms are going off, and they should be. When you are buying something you aren't just buying the product you are buying everything else that comes with the product; such as the service, support, etc.

Lets look at it this way, would you buy a car from a dealership that had a sketchy salesperson and gave you an unsettling feeling about their service department? No. Even though it was hands down the best car on the market? Nope. Why? Because you would feel like you were all alone on a deserted island.

Now lets look at the reverse.

The dealership is top-notch, and you would let the service manager date your daughter. But the car is well... a bit less-than desirable. I bet 9 times out of 10 you buy from this dealership. Why? You feel like someone has your back. If that car blows a johnson-rod, or specs on the inline girder aren't spot on... no problem they will have your back.

Your not just buying the product, but the implied relationship that goes with the product.

So back to Tobin's question. "Would people buy your company's product(s) in spite of their salesmen?" Initially I would say yes. But the chances of a repeat sale, and buyers remorse are incredibly high. And the odds of keeping that customer for any period of time are stacked against you. Why? Well there is only so much relationship building a product can do, before you need the intervention of a contact person.

The Selling Point:
Sales is more than a transaction. It's about building a relationship with the customer to solve a problem. Good salespeople build solid relationships, and don't leave it to the product to do all of the leg work.
In my opinion, if your going to spend the time to develop a market dominating product, you should put as much effort into training and educating your salesforce as you did into building your product.


As always keep the comments coming on Part 1, 2, or 3.

Technorati Tags: Customer Retention Customer Service Relationship Building Sales and service

That reminds me...

I was reminded of a great sales tip today.

Talk to your customers like you do your friends.

What do I mean? Be yourself, be personable and most of all be honest. All of your friends have these traits and you would probably buy something from them. So make sure you project those same qualities to your customers.

Its amazing how quickly customers can sniff out a lack of confidence.

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Would you miss your salesman? Part 2: Would your customers?

In my last post I asked "would you miss your salesman?" My most recent comment was from Michael Roby, who has a fantastic blog and website. He responded with:

'Would your CUSTOMERS miss your salesperson?'

I know at my last job I had a customer that would bake me cookies every time I had an appointment to visit her school district. Do you have any customers that would miss you?

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Would you miss your salesman?

For those of you who read the Brand Autopsy blog, you have stayed up to date on the question that John has posed to us "Would you miss [insert some business that questionably fills a void in the marketplace]?" Its a great posting and you should read it.

So lets take it one step further.

Would you miss any of your salespeople?

Does any one of your salespeople pose such a value to the organization that if they left you would be in dire straits? Could they just as easily be replaced and the organization would move on?


In fact lets make this a series. I am going to post all comments... so by all means leave one.

Technorati Tags: Customer Service Motivation Brand Autopsy John Moore Salesman

Timeclocks are so yesterday

Not to long ago I posted my "business ethos", what would be important to me if I was a company president. One of my underlying factors was to focus on the work and not the hours. Personally I think that companies would be more productive and keep people a lot longer if they focused on the work and not the hours employees put in. Honestly, how much time do you waste at work that could be spent doing something else? Wouldn't it be nice to come, accomplish your tasks and move on with your day?

I had all but lost hope on this idea ever entering corporate america.

Then I read this article on CNN yesterday about Best Buy looking into its scheduling procedures for its sales people. Instead of scheduling hours, you work as much as you need to accomplish your sales goals. What a great idea! Having been a retail manager and district manager for a few years, some of the hardest associates to manager are part-timers and college students. And its easy to understand why. They have a bunch of things going on and they don't have the same vested interest in the company that management or full-time associates possess. Understandable. No one says they want to grow up and be an assistant department manager in-charge of shipping and receiving, or whatever attempt at a politically correct title your company thought up for you.

Ok, so I realize that my last few posts are about Best Buy. And perhaps it appears as though I have been drinking the "Best Buy Kool-aid", but maybe I have. They are changing the face of retail and they are doing it with more than just words, they using actions. But more importantly they are doing for all the right reason, progress.

The Selling Point:
If you always do what the leader does, you will always follow the leader. So don't be afraid to change things up for the sake of progress.

Technorati Tags: Relationship Building Retail Best Buy CNN

Buy it. Now!

"Hi! great weather were having huh?" said the Best Buy associate, an excellent intro line (more on that here), I responded nicely and told her what I was looking for. Her response shocked me. "Oh, you walked right past it, they are up front, as you walk in." Giving her a look of amazement I turned and walked up front. Sure enough there was the 007 display.

I totally missed it.

I missed it because I was programmed in the "old school" way of merchandising. You know what I am talking about, stick the stuff everyone wants in the back and make them walk through everything else you are trying to sell to get to it. The hopes of course are to sell the everything else to the customer along with what they want. In case your wondering, that is why the milk and meat are in the back of the grocery store.

But Best Buy didn't do that. They put what I wanted up front. Puzzled? I was, then I thought about it for a bit...

Hmm...
placing a product, like a recently released movie, up front DOES a better job of customer service to ALL of your customers than any associate could do. That's it!
It has to do with these three little words--transfer of ownership.

What ToO means to your customer base:

• New customers: walk in, find it, and grab it. At this point they could walk out and in their amazement they would remember how EASY it was to buy at your store. If they were looking for something else, they could pick up and walk around with it, thereby increasing the likelihood of an additional purchase (transfer of ownership).
  
  
• Returning customers: walk in, and buy it, without having to walk around the store creating clutter for associates who are trying to sell to new customers.

Transfer of ownership? What?
Think back to the last time you purchased a pair of shoes, what did the salesperson do? (Assuming they were good.) When they came out with your shoes, they probably had more than one pair. after opening the pair that you wanted, they handed you a shoe, then laced the other shoe to put on your foot. What did you do when they handed you the shoe? I bet you admired the shoe, you thought about how cool and enviable you would be with these shoes. You didn't look at the construction of the shoe, but thought of how envious others will be because you have these shoes. The salesperson didn't say that, you did. And you are your own best salesperson.

So how does this relate to 007 being up front?
Best Buy, in their infinite wisdom, gave themselves the ability to transfer ownership of the movie to you right when you entered. Now that the movie is in your hands and the money has already been spent in your mind, you can look around for whatever else you may want.

Kudos Best Buy! This isn't a new technique, but its ideas like this that will continue to change the retail environment and the way a customer shops!

Technorati Tags: Creativity Customer Service Product Placement Retail Best Buy Casino Royal 007

Spring ahead?

Service is in the details. And I bet by now your IT department has flooded your inbox with reminders about the change to daylight savings time this weekend. PC's around the world may have the wrong time! Whatever are we to do?

I know all the news websites I check were buzzing with what might happen... oh no, will the computers (that run our lives) be able to adjust? Is this another Y2K? Will cheese still melt on pizza if the computer doesn't have the right time?

So I googled it...

I found that Apple was already on it. In fact, they have been on it since my last software update back in February. On their site they posted:

"DST rule changes for the United States and most of Canada are already available in Mac OSX 10.4.5 or later"

So why should you care? This is a perfect example of great service in the details. They already addressed the concern before it became a concern for me.

The Selling Point:
Anticipating customer concerns and having the mechanisms in place to alleviate them is a great way to build word of mouth advertising. So when was the last time you thought about the concerns you customer may have?

And don't forget to set your clocks ahead...unless your on a Mac.

Technorati Tags: Customer Service Relationship Building Apple Daylight Savings Time Mac OSX

Customer service the VR way

Great Job Vertical Response! You have an awesome customer service department!

I had to call the customer service department today. The person that answered the phone was fun, witty, and most importantly helpful. I couldn't believe it! They do customer service with style and flare. It is actually a pleasure to talk to them! Let me tell you that again, it is a pleasure to talk with them.

So if you don't already use Vertical Response for your email marketing, I encourage you to start now. And by chance if you need a question answered from them... well you can look forward to contacting the customer service department.

Technorati Tags: Relationship Building Differentiation Customer Service Vertical Response

If I was a company president...

This would be my company ethos.

1. The customer comes first. You need to be readily accessible to the customer and give them the answer you would want to hear. If we can't make them happy we don't need to be in business.
   
   
2. Have fun. When this place becomes anything less than fun--quit and find something that makes you happy. And by all means if its something I can do, let me know. I believe the company should challenge you to grow.
   
   
3. Wear what you want to the office. You should be productive, and if your the most productive in a suit--wear that. If its pajamas--wear that. The focus should be on the work, not the attire.
   
   
4. No Lunch meetings. In fact unless it involves a bunch of people I don't see the reason to have a meeting, two people are not a meeting, that is a conversation. When you boil it down a meeting just encourages 'group think'. Personally too many cooks in the kitchen can ruin the stew... and all of those other cliché saying that come into play here.
   
   
5. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. I would rather see a huge failure than a mediocre success. The most important thing is you tried.
   
6. You are responsible for everyone else's success. When someone new starts its everyone's responsibility to train them. This is your chance to give them all the knowledge they need to succeed. Don't let them be baptized by fire!
   
   
7. The 'cc:' and 'bcc:' line on an email doesn't exist! Period. If the email isn't important enough to go to the person, they surely don't deserve to see a copy of it.
   
   
8. 40 hours. Thats how much time you need to put in between Monday and Friday. So if you need to run your kids to something. Do it. Your job will be here when you get back. Like to sleep in? Come in at noon. Your life isn't 9-5, so why should your job be?
   
   
9. Make sure you try something new at least once a week. If its a marketing campaign think of a good idea, and then think of a better one. But most importantly make sure you always try something that is different than the last time. If you are afraid to do that, then shame on us for hiring you. So re-read rule #5 for more clarity.
   
   
10. When in doubt, ask. My door is always open. We are all part of the same team, and I want you to succeed.

There it is in all of its glory. My top 10 rules for how I think a company should be run. What are your rules you would add to this list?

Technorati Tags: Relationship Building Motivation Company Ethos Values

Are you ready to buy yet?

Brian Carroll in his most recent post points out a crime that all of us in sales is guilty of committing. You know what I am talking about.

It's the "Hi, I was just calling to touch base" phone call.

STOP! No you weren't. You were calling to see if I wanted to finally buy your product.

The Selling Point:
I can't emphasize enough how important it is to not abuse the phone. I can't say that I am perfect, (I once called a contact just to see how she liked her new car and I wasn't selling cars). But what it comes down to is how important the message is and the delivery of that message. Take the advice from Brian, before you pick up the phone--just to pick up the phone. Get with you marketing department, determine a reason for the call and get a relevant message.

Technorati Tags: Customer Retention Relationship Building Phone Sales Call Brian Carroll

And that's why Google will win.

I recently switched and consolidated all my email accounts to Gmail. In the process of doing so I discovered how Google will win over the public.

Simplicity.

One page takes care of all of my Google Apps, Blogger, Analytics, Gmail. Everything.

The Selling Point:
This isn't meant to be a plug for Gmail, even though you should switch. But what's important is that if Google can make something so simple for any user, why can't your company? Honestly, take a step back and look at your company's protocol for a new client or problem. Is it a simple solution? Simple makes customers happy, customers who are happy--blog.


Thanks for great headline Nick!

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